Honoring the life of astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Science be discharged from further consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 847) honoring the life of astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, during this Congress, the President has laid out a bold plan to return men to the moon and then go on to Mars as we begin to explore the wonders of our solar system, a vision that would not be possible were it not for a group of exceptional men who stepped forward to accept our Nation's Manifest Destiny of the 20th century. In those very early days some 45 years ago, we were behind in the race into space. The Russians had put the first satellite into orbit, sent the first living creature into space, and were the first to send an object to the Moon. American prestige was suffering around the world, and President Eisenhower and the Congress realized that things had to change.

In response to that challenge, they created NASA and along with it, Project Mercury, the initial step that got us to the moon first. But those were difficult days. Our scientists and engineers were struggling to build rockets that were capable of lifting the heavy payloads needed to get us there, and those rockets would explode in gigantic fireballs almost as often as they didn't. Being strapped inside a flying bomb and hurled into space at 17,000 miles an hour was hazardous duty of the highest order, but in April 1959, the Nation chose seven courageous men who were willing to put the interests of the Nation ahead of their own.

One of these was Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., a native of Shawnee, OK, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a test pilot who logged more than 7,000 hours flying time--4,000 of which were in jet aircraft. They called him ``Gordo'', and in May 1963, he became the first American to orbit the earth for more than a day. Two years later along with astronaut Peter Conrad, Gordon Cooper set a new space endurance record by traveling more than 3 million miles as the command pilot of the Gemini 5 mission and demonstrated for the first time that men could live and work in space long enough to make the trip to the Moon and back.

He continued to support our national goal of landing a man on the Moon by serving as the backup command pilot for the Gemini 12 mission in 1966 and as backup commander for the Apollo 10 trip to the moon in 1969, logging a total of 222 hours in space and receiving a number of special honors along the way before he retired in 1970.

Mr. Speaker, I remain convinced that the exploration of space in many ways holds the key to our future here on earth. Just as it was when Gordon Cooper first went into space more than 40 years ago, space travel remains a dangerous business. We have experienced some setbacks along the way, and yet it remains our destiny. In future years as we explore the moon and beyond, the successes that we will enjoy and the wonders that we will find on the other side will have been made possible by the courage and devotion to country of men like Gordon Cooper, and it is with great pleasure that I rise today in support of House Resolution 847 to honor his gifts to our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I am unable to be in Washington, DC today. Two weeks ago, I injured my leg and my physician prefers that I not put it through the stress of an airplane flight from my home in Seattle, WA to Washington, DC. Were I able to attend today's session in the House of Representatives, I would have voted in support of H. Res. 847, H.R. 5370, S. Con. Res. 8, S. 2618, H.R. 5365, S. 2781, H.R. 4324, S. 150, S. Con. Res. 146, H.R. 5360, H.R. 1350, H. Res. 858, and H. Res. 859.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 847.